Robert Bisang

Robert "Bob" Bisang, beloved father, brother, uncle, nephew and cousin, passed away peacefully on August 28, 11 days following his 80th birthday, a date he often joked he would never make. Despite the odds, he made it, living long enough to celebrate the milestone birthday in the company of his closest family members.

Born in Brooklyn, New York two days after Japan surrendered to end World War II, Bob grew up wanting to be a cowboy. He instead settled for watching westerns and consuming books about the American Revolution and the French and Indian War.

For what he lacked in formal education, Bob made up for it by reading on his own. He consumed thousands of books, with a particular fondness for historical non-fiction and novels written by Louis L'Amour and Elmore Leonard. When he wasn't reading, Bob enjoyed watching his beloved New York (football) Giants and in his later years, the New York Mets, which were never an adequate substitute for the Brooklyn Dodgers. But most of all, he loved spending time with his family - he grew up spending summers with his siblings and numerous cousins (his mother was one of 12 children) and never missed a family party.

Bob graduated from Holy Cross Elementary and then Erasmus Hall before transitioning into the workforce. He joined the Army in 1968 and served in Vietnam, earning the rank of Sergeant. Following his service, Bob began a nearly 45-year career working around telephones, switches and call centers, first for the New York Telephone Co. (later NYNEX and Bell Atlantic) and in his later years, the Vermont Country Store.

Bob was predeceased by his mother, Cecilia, his father Arthur, and his sister, Susan. He is survived by his two other sisters, Ceil and Linda, his three children, Robert (Stephanie), Katherine (Raymond) and Scott (Tempest), and his five grandchildren, Jack, Meredith, Andrew, Lily and Benjamin.

The family kindly requests that in lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Bob's memory to Hospice of the Chesapeake Foundation.